Meanings
- uncountableLightheartedness; playfulness.
Emily […] in youthful gaieté de cœur had got a little tired of her.
1886, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Chantry House1 more example
Meanwhile, he […] attended me in all my excursions, and particularly in an expedition to Antwerp, with two other gentlemen, where in downright gaietè de cœur, we sat for our pictures, which were drawn in one piece […].
1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
Origin
- Frenchgaieté de cœur
- Englishgaieté de cœur
From French gaieté de cœur.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gaieté de cœur. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiet%C3%A9%20de%20c%C5%93ur
“gaieté de cœur.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiet%C3%A9%20de%20c%C5%93ur. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gaieté de cœur,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiet%C3%A9%20de%20c%C5%93ur.
Source: gaieté de cœur on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.